Page 6 of Breathless
“Why did you decide to come out here for college?” he asked, still trying to get a good read on her. He had mixed signals. This gated community and the way her parents were throwingmoney around gave him the impression she was from a wealthy background, but she came across down to earth. Which is the sense he got about Liberty and Justus and their background and if the two girls were such good friends he couldn’t see them meshing well otherwise.
“It was far enough away from my parent’s reach, and it had a good program in linguistics. My major of study,” she explained. “But after my abduction, I’m thinking I’d like to reconsider my major and focus on something else. Which is not going to put me behind because I’ve only completed the first year of study. I haven’t really gotten into my core classes yet.”
Rawlins held the top sheet out for her to take. “I have so many questions about what you just said. Do you mind my asking them? If you do, I’ll respect your privacy.”
She shrugged. “Sure. Ask away. After all, we are trying to get to know one another.”
“Why did you want to get away from your mom and dad? They bought you this wonderful place to live. Furnished it They can’t be that bad.”
She laughed again. “I can see why you’d think that. Since the abduction, they’re determined to keep me away from Justus and Liberty. That should give you an idea of the type of parents they are.”
“Not really,” he said.
“No?” she asked, tilting her head. “I guess you’d have to know them to understand them.”
“Help me then. Tell me about them. Were they that bad as you were growing up to make you want to leave them?”
She sighed as she stuffed a pillow into the case. “No. They provided me with everything I could have wanted and more, but they just didn’t allow me to work. I always wanted to babysit, but they wouldn’t let me earn my own pocket money like the other girls at school,” she said. “They wouldn’t hear of it. They claimedthey didn’t want me associating with the wrong sort of riff raff or getting ill from a sick child.”
“Did they actually say that?” he questioned, stuffing the other pillow into a case.
“My mother did. But she could always come across as a snob,” Chaney said. “She grew up affluent where my father made his money. But he was ruthless getting there, pushing aside those in his way to the ground so he could reach the top. I got sick listening to him boast of his exploits to his friends when we had company for dinner parties.” She wrinkled her nose. “Oh, how they love to entertain.”
He shook his head. “I wouldn’t know about that. I’m from a working-class family.”
“And there isn’t anything wrong with it,” she assured him as they neatly tucked the quilt up to the pillows and spread it down toward the foot of the bed. “But they have always insisted I rely on them for financial support, which I don’t understand, especially my father. If he made his own money, then you’d think he’d want his daughter to stand on her own two feet and learn the value of earning her own way in life. Wouldn’t you? Am I wrong for wanting to do that?”
“No, but have you?”
“I was getting ready to get my first job out here this summer. I had my resume already to start applying for jobs when Justus excitedly came into our room telling me how she was going hiking with Kurtis. I immediately got the gut feeling that something wasn’t right and the next thing I knew I was inviting myself on the hiking trip. I told her I loved hiking and had always wanted to go to the Garden of the Gods. Would she mind if I joined them on their outing? She was thrilled and called Kurtis. He said the more the merrier and called his friend Dan. And you know the rest. And by the time we were rescued, working was the last thought on my mind.”
“I can see how that would take a back burner,” he said. “And of course, Kurtis was happy to have you come along because he was then getting two girls for the work of one.”
“Damn, I never realized that. I walked right into his trap, didn’t I?” Chaney said. “But I wouldn’t change a thing. I couldn’t image Justus going through that alone.”
“A good friend wouldn’t,” he said.
Chaney got the quilt to put on the bed. “With Broderick keeping tabs and driving me everywhere plus my weekly appointments with Dr. Saunders, getting a job after the abduction was essentially impossible even if it crossed my mind.”
“Your parents would know what you were doing.”
She nodded. “And now they are threatening to remove my financial support if I don’t go along with their demands.” She sighed. “It really puts me in a tough situation. I was already on thin ice for applying to only one university and not telling them.”
“What?” Rawlins felt like he was getting whiplash from the twists and turns in this conversation. Chaney Daniels was more than she was cracked up to be. He first thought she was a spoiled rich girl, but it was clear she was down to earth and very clever. He’d have to be careful around her.
“You heard me. I was so desperate to get out on my own to see what it would be like that I only applied to one university,” she explained. “They didn’t know until I was accepted. Then it was too late to pull any strings to get me in anywhere closer to home because even the waitlists were too long to do anything. My parents were furious, but in the end, they let me come once they realized I’d chosen a really good program of study for what I want to do. Now, if I do change my concentration, they will be livid. That’s why I’m not going to tell them.”
“What are you wanting to change to?”
“I was thinking social work.”
He chuckled, his brown eyes twinkling. “Sorry. You’re right. That will push your parents over the edge if you go into that line of work. But if that is where your heart is leading you.”
“It is.” Her heart beat a little faster. As close as she’d been with Justus, she’d never shared any of what she’d just told Rawlins about her parents. Why had she done that? Was it because he’d asked that simple question?
“I’d like your friendship. A girl can’t have too many these days,” she said. “Since it looks like I just lost Justus.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t write her off just yet.”
